Search Results: Titles starting with U from 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop

FIRST EDITION. "On the Movement of Small Particles Suspended in a Stationary Liquid Demanded by the Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat" appears here on pp. 549-560. This landmark paper on Brownian motion is one of the three great papers from 1905, Einstein annus mirabilis.
Although most physicists and chemists accepted the idea of atoms as a useful concept in 1905, many still questioned whether they actually existed. Einstein later claimed that "my major aim in [this research] was to find facts which would guarantee as much as possible the existence of atoms of finite size."
In 1827, botanist Robert Brown had used a microscope to look at dust grains floating in water. He found that the floating grains were moving about erratically, a phenomenon that became known as "Brownian motion." In this paper Einstein proved the reality of these molecules and their motions by producing the first statistical physics analysis of Brownian motion. French physicist Jean Perrin used Einstein's results to… Read More

Albumen printed cabinet card mark with Mathew Brady backmark. Some wear at edges of mount, but an excellent photograph with strong contrast.
This Mathew Brady portrait of General Ulysses S. Grant is inscribed and signed by Brady
to J.E. Kelly on the mount. Stamp of Brady Studio, Wash. D.C. and handwriting attributed to J.E. Kelly on verso. Brady was nearly blind during much of his photographic career as well as semi-literate throughout his life and so he rarely signed or inscribed photographs.
Brady was the preeminent photographer of his generation, and he was particularly remembered for documentation of the American Civil War. Long before his fame from the war he made his mark in photographic history in portrait photography with his galleries of notable Americans in New York City and Washington, D.C. The galleries were widely acclaimed tourist attractions as well as social meeting places for all classes of citizens.
The photograph features Grant wearing his military uniform, before his… Read More

This American flag, flown to the Moon on Apollo 11, is one of the most sought-after relics of space exploration. This wonderful relic of the first Moon landing is accompanied by the original printed certificate reading "This flag traveled to the moon with Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing, July 20, 1969" and includes the dates of the mission, the last names of the astronauts, and Neil Armstrong's famous words, "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." The mission emblem is printed in the center.All three members of the Apollo crew, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, have signed the certificate. The excellent signatures do not show the fading that typically plagues the signed certificates.The United States flag is in excellent condition, without the dark stains usually seen at the corners where adhesive typically has bled through.United States flag printed on silk (6 x 4 in.). Mounted on the original signed official certificate (sight size 9 ½ x 11 ½ in.). Fine… Read More

Fine Large-format Photograph of the Capitol. This dramatic photograph of the United States Capitol shows the building ca. 1870, after the completion of the new dome and the extensions. The view shows the east side of the building, as seen from the northeast. There are signs of construction evident in the image, and a number of people and two horse-drawn carriages are visible. The photograph was taken within a few years of 1867, when the cheek blocks beside the Senate steps were installed. The photograph shows the rails for a street car system, for which termini were constructed on the Capitol grounds. Thomas Jefferson insisted the legislative building be called the "Capitol" rather than "Congress House." The word "Capitol" comes from Latin and is associated with the Roman temple to Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Capitoline Hill. The name, which followed the example of Virginia's House of Burgesses' "Capitoll" authorized in 1699, signified the national aspirations for a republic steeped in the ancient… Read More